Assembly Objective:

How many of us change our speech, look or behaviour when we’re with other people? Who will tell us how to be ourselves when we forget who we are, and how does God view us? This assembly examines the idea that a true friend will speak the truth to us, and that God judges us by our hearts, not how we look or speak. Through an Old Testament story, and a proverb, students will consider Christian teaching on identity and friendship, and be challenged to be honest friends to one another.

Film:

Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal Pictures, 2022, PG). Click here to buy the DVD online.

Bible:

Proverbs 17:17 and 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV-UK)

Supporting Values Education:

The value of individual liberty means that people don’t all share the same views or opinions. Respecting values and beliefs in others is important, as is the choice not to impose our values, ideas and beliefs on others. This assembly explores the judgements people make when hearing how others speak and challenges discrimination on the basis of class or background.

The value of mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith extends to include respect and tolerance of those from different social or racial backgrounds. This assembly challenges discrimination on the basis of speech or accent.

OPENING ACTIVITY

Accent Challenge (challenge)

In advance of the assembly write a list of accents. Invite a volunteer to come to the front and try to speak in as many of the accents as they can. When you show them the accent, they must talk until someone guesses it correctly. Be sensitive in your choice of accents in order to avoid any offensive stereotyping. You may want to include some local examples that highlight how social status impacts accent. Examples might include:

Cockney (London)
Scottish (Glasgow)
Geordie (Newcastle)
RP (Queen’s/King’s English)
Scouse (Liverpool)
Northern Irish (Belfast)
West Country (Bristol)
Welsh (Cardiff)
Australian
Swedish
French
Italian
American (New York)
American (Texas) etc.

Introduce today’s assembly topic by pointing out that changing your accent to fit in with your surroundings is quite common. It can be fun to try speaking in a different way, but for some it’s a way of surviving. Point out that some of the students present possibly change how they speak or behave to fit in here at school. Often this is rooted in fear of discrimination on the basis of race or social class.

FILM CLIP

Play the clip from Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal Pictures, 2022, PG)

• Start time: 01:12:54
• End time: 01:18:01
• Clip length: 5 minutes and 7 seconds

There is mild swearing at 01:14:33 (“Bloody hell!”) so you may prefer to begin the clip at 01:14:46, just after Myrna storms out as the servants descend the staircase.

A film crew is using Downton Abbey as a location. With the advent of talking pictures, a sound engineer has been brought in to record dialogue. The star of the film, Guy Dexter (Dominic West) has a plummy voice, but his co-star, Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock) cannot shift her cockney accent. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) has offered to voice her words as she mimes. The crew attempts three takes but each time Myrna speaks, and ruins the shot. Eventually she storms off set, locking herself in her room. The servants discuss the fact that Myrna is trouble – she’s rude and surly but Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan) suggests that the maids, Anna (Joanne Froggatt) and Daisy (Sophie McShera), go and reason with her. Once she has allowed them into her room, Myrna says that the film crew despises her, that they don’t want her to open her mouth or speak. She has tried to take elocution lessons but found it too difficult. She tells them she is upset because she knows her career is finished. Daisy sits down and says, “Come on, lady, you’re not talking to your fan club now.” She reminds her that she is famous, beautiful and rich and has any number of jobs she can do. She goes on to say she needs to dust herself off and try being polite to the people who serve her. She tells her “You’re one of us, remember.” Myrna responds by agreeing, telling Daisy that she reminds her of her sister who died of the Spanish flu. They leave the room and filming resumes, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Lord and Lady Grantham in the back of the shot.

TALK

Download the Downton Abbey: A New Era PowerPoint for use with this talk.

Scripted Talk

• [PowerPoint slide 1]
  • Take a moment and think about where you spend your time, and how you behave – when do you feel most comfortable? Is it when you’re with your family? When you are in school? With your friends? Maybe it’s when you’re on your own!
• [PowerPoint slide 2]
  • In today’s assembly we’re going to think about how we behave differently depending on who we’re with and where we are. We often speak differently depending on who we are with. The way we speak when we’re with our friends is probably different to how we would speak if we met a member of the royal family. The way we speak when we’re at home with our family might be very different to how we speak when we’re in school. Lots of people change their accents or how they present themselves in order to fit in with other people.
  • When you’re a teenager it can be hard to know where you fit. As you mature physically and emotionally, you are trying to work out who you are, what you like and what sort of person you want to be. That’s very normal.
• [PowerPoint slide 3]
  • Sometimes, though, the pressure to sound or act differently comes from other people. When we feel forced to change who we are, we are in danger of losing our identity, our sense of who we really are. We’re going to watch a clip about someone having to face the reality of who they really are.
• [PowerPoint slide 4]
  • It’s 1928, and a film production company is using Downton Abbey as a location for a movie. Partway through filming, the movie is cancelled because the introduction of ‘the talkies’ means that nobody wants to see silent movies any more. The star of the film, Myrna Dalgleish, looks beautiful and elegant, but has a broad cockney accent. It’s decided that Lady Mary could voice the lines, and Myrna mime her part. However, this is not as easy as it first seems.
• [PowerPoint slide 5]
  • Watch the clip. Myrna had made her fortune in films where she looked as though she was very well-to-do. In fact, she came from humble beginnings, and her accent reflected that. Sadly, Myrna had also become rude to other people along the way. As a result, when she was confronted with losing her career, she was very anxious because she didn’t know what else she could do.
• [PowerPoint slide 6]
  • Feeling uncertain or wondering where we fit in can leave us feeling anxious and unsettled. Rather than trying to work the problem out, Myrna reacted to getting the words wrong by storming off set and refusing to speak to anyone. The only people who were able to get through to her were the two servants, Anna and Daisy. Did you notice what Daisy said to her?
  • She reminded her that she was just like them, and that she wasn’t fooling them with her behaviour. Daisy reminded her of all the good things she had – being beautiful, rich and famous. She then told her to dust herself off and get on with it, and not to forget to be nice to the servants. Finally she said “You’re one of us, remember.”
  • Daisy wasn’t intimidated by Myrna’s beauty or her behaviour. She recognised that Myrna needed someone to remind her of who she really was, underneath her fame and money.
  • Myrna then told Daisy that she reminded her of her sister who had died in the pandemic of 1918.
  • By speaking plainly to Myrna, Daisy had acted like a sister to her.
• [PowerPoint slide 7]
  • There’s a proverb, or a saying, in the Bible that says:
  • A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
• [PowerPoint slide 8]
  • A true friend is someone who will tell you the truth and stick by you. A true friend respects you no matter how you look or sound.
  • A friend who will tell you the truth and stick with you when life is hard is like a brother or sister.
• [PowerPoint slide 9]
  • In another part of the Bible there is a story about how God chose a boy called David to become king. The story describes how God told a man called Samuel to go to the home of a man called Jesse because he had chosen one of his sons to become king.  God told Samuel that he would show him which of Jesse’s sons would be king. When Samuel arrived at Jesse’s home, he discovered that Jesse had eight sons! He looked at them one by one, but it wasn’t until he asked to meet the youngest son, David, who was out in the fields looking after sheep, that he realised he had met the person God had chosen. While he was meeting the family, God said to Samuel:
  • The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
  • In other words, God sees people as they really are, inside, not what they look or sound like.
• [PowerPoint slide 10]
  • You may speak differently in different situations. You may dress differently in different situations. You may not really know who you truly are yet, but God knows you inside out, and his love for you doesn’t change.
  • He wants you to remember that “You’re one of us” – in other words, that you can be part of his family.

Headings and Bullets

Download the Downton Abbey: A New Era PowerPoint for use with this talk.

• [PowerPoint slide 1]
  • When do you feel most comfortable:
  • At home?
  • At school?
  • With friends?
  • Alone?
• [PowerPoint slide 2]
  • People behave differently in different situations.
  • We often speak differently depending on who we are with.
  • The way we speak when we’re with our friends is probably different to how we would speak if we met a member of the royal family.
  • The way we speak when we’re at home with our family might be very different to how we speak when we’re in school.
  • Lots of people change their accents or how they present themselves in order to fit in with other people.
  • When you’re a teenager it can be hard to know where you fit.
  • That’s very normal.
• [PowerPoint slide 3]
  • Introduce the clip.
  • When we feel forced to change who we are, we are in danger of losing our identity, our sense of who we really are.
• [PowerPoint slide 4]
  • Downton Abbey was being used as a location for a movie.
  • Partway through filming, the movie is cancelled because the introduction of ‘the talkies’ means that nobody wants to see silent movies anymore.
  • The star of the film, Myrna Dalgleish, looks beautiful and elegant, but has a broad cockney accent.
  • Lady Mary voices the lines, and Myrna mimes her part.
• [PowerPoint slide 5]
  • Watch the clip.
  • Myrna was rich and famous but she couldn’t hide her accent.
  • She came from humble beginnings.
  • Sadly, Myrna had also become rude to other people along the way.
  • As a result, when she was confronted with losing her career, she was very anxious because she didn’t know what else she could do.
• [PowerPoint slide 6]
  • Myrna stormed off set.
  • Rather than trying to work the problem out, Myrna reacted to getting the words wrong by storming off set and refusing to speak to anyone.
  • The only people who were able to get through to her were the two servants, Anna and Daisy.
  • Daisy reminded her that she was just like them, and that she wasn’t fooling them with her behaviour.
  • She reminded her of all the good things she had – being beautiful, rich and famous. She told her to dust herself off and get on with it, and not to forget to be nice to the servants.
  • Finally she said “You’re one of us, remember.”
  • Daisy wasn’t intimidated by Myrna’s beauty or her behaviour.
  • She recognised that Myrna needed someone to remind her of who she really was, underneath her fame and money.
  • Myrna then told Daisy that she reminded her of her sister who had died in the pandemic of 1918.
  • By speaking plainly to Myrna, Daisy had acted like a sister to her.
• [PowerPoint slide 7]
  • Proverbs 17:17.
  • A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
• [PowerPoint slide 8]
  • A true friend will tell you the truth and stick by you.
  • A true friend respects you no matter how you look or sound.
  • A friend who will tell you the truth and stick with you when life is hard is like a brother or sister.
• [PowerPoint slide 9]
  • 1 Samuel 16:7.
  • A story about how God chose a boy called David to become king. The story describes how God told a man called Samuel to go to the home of a man called Jesse to find the king from his sons.
  • Jesse had eight sons and the youngest was the one chosen by God.
  • God told Samuel.
  • The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
  • God sees people as they really are, inside, not what they look or sound like.
• [PowerPoint slide 10]
  • You may not really know who you are, but God knows you inside out, and he still loves you.
  • You may speak differently in different situations.
  • You may dress differently in different situations.
  • You may not really know who you truly are yet, but God knows you inside out, and his love for you doesn’t change.
  • He wants you to remember that “You’re one of us” – in other words, that you can be part of his family.

Photo Copyright for Downton Abbey A New Era PowerPoint: Slide 1 / young woman at home Pixabay.com school children Pixabay.com group of friends Pixabay.com girl alone Pixabay.com / Slide 2 Pixabay.com / Slide 3 Focus Features LLC / Slide 4 Focus Features LLC / Slide 5 Ben Blackall / Focus Features LLC / Slide 6 Ben Blackall / Focus Features LLC / Slide 7 Pixabay.com / Slide 8 Pixabay.com / Slide 9 Pixabay.com / Slide 10 Pixabay.com / Slide 11 Pixabay.com / Slide 12 Pixabay.com

RESPOND

Reflection

• [PowerPoint slide 11]
  • Play some reflective music and show the slide with two questions:
  • Who can I be a friend to today?
  • How can I help someone else be true to themselves?
  • Invite pupils to spend a moment looking at the slide and thinking about the two questions.

• [PowerPoint slide 12]
  • Father God
    Thank you that you know me inside out.
    Thank you it doesn’t matter what I look like or sound like because you love me.
    Help me to be a friend today.
    Help me to treat others without prejudice or judgement.
    Amen

YOU WILL NEED:

1. A copy of Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal Pictures, 2022, PG). Click here to buy the DVD online.
2. Downton Abbey: A New Era PowerPoint.
3. List of accents for Opening Activity.